ViroPharma Launches Novel Campaign to Illustrate the Emotional Burden of Hereditary Angioedema

EXTON, Pa., Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ViroPharma Incorporated (NASDAQ: VPHM) today announced the launch of a new unbranded campaign focusing on moments lost to hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks to raise awareness among physicians of the emotional and psychological burden of HAE on patients' lives. HAE is a rare, severely debilitating, life-threatening genetic disorder caused by a deficiency of a human plasma protein called C1 inhibitor. People living with HAE experience physical manifestations of attacks including, swelling and pain, but much of the true burden lies in the emotional and psychological implications for patients that greatly impact the quality of their life. Visit http://www.momentsmissed.com to find out more about the emotional burden of HAE.

HAE can have a tremendous impact on a patients' mental health, daily life, and future plans. HAE attacks are highly variable and unpredictable, and many people living with HAE experience multiple attacks per month. Many patients struggle with fear of the next attack, causing a devastating psychological impact including anxiety, depression, and isolation. Approximately 50 percent of patients experience a laryngeal attack, and nearly all live in fear of having such an attack.

"Through this campaign we hope to illustrate that HAE is not just an acute clinical condition, but can also be an emotional and psychological burden to patients," said Frank Nazzario, ViroPharma's associate director, marketing. "HAE is a life altering disease that interferes with work, school, travel and social life. ViroPharma created this campaign to give a voice to patients who bear the emotional burden of HAE and to raise awareness of the moments that are missed as a result of this disease."  

About Hereditary Angioedema (HAE)
HAE is a rare, severely debilitating, life-threatening genetic disorder caused by a deficiency of C1 inhibitor, a human plasma protein. This condition is the result of a defect in the gene controlling the synthesis of C1 inhibitor. C1 inhibitor maintains the natural regulation of the contact, complement, and fibrinolytic systems, that when left unregulated, can initiate or perpetuate an attack by consuming the already low levels of endogenous C1 inhibitor in HAE patients. Patients with C1 inhibitor deficiency experience recurrent, unpredictable, debilitating, and potentially life threatening attacks of inflammation affecting the larynx, abdomen, face, extremities and urogenital tract. Patients with HAE experience approximately 20 to 100 days of incapacitation per year. There are estimated to be at least 6,500 people with HAE in the United States and at least 10,000 people in the European Union.

For more information on HAE, visit the U.S. HAE Association's website at www.haea.org and the HAEi's (International Patient Organization for C1 Inhibitor Deficiencies) website at www.haei.org.

About ViroPharma Incorporated
ViroPharma Incorporated is an international biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing novel solutions for physician specialists to address unmet medical needs of patients living with diseases that have few if any clinical therapeutic options.  ViroPharma is developing a portfolio of therapeutics for rare and Orphan diseases including C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency, Friedreich's Ataxia, and adrenal insufficiency, cytomegalovirus (CMV); and recurrent C. difficile infection (CDI).  Our goal is to provide rewarding careers to employees, to create new standards of care in the way serious diseases are treated, and to build international partnerships with the patients, advocates, and health care professionals we serve.  ViroPharma's commercial products address diseases including hereditary angioedema (HAE), seizures, adrenal insufficiency and C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD); for full U.S. prescribing information on our products, please download the package inserts at http://www.viropharma.com/Products.aspx; the prescribing information for other countries can be found at www.viropharma.com. 

ViroPharma routinely posts information, including press releases, which may be important to investors in the investor relations and media sections of our company's web site, www.viropharma.com. The company encourages investors to consult these sections for more information on ViroPharma and our business.

SOURCE ViroPharma Incorporated

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